Newsletter #13

June 2016

“I/we see Aster(ix) as proactive. We are creating a home for what interests us and what we love, without explanation or apology.”

Angie Cruz is featured in The Review Review and shares what’s new and exciting for 2016-2017. Check it out!

Digital copy of Atravesando, an anthology is now available for $2.99 @ Blue Sketch Press. Buy it! Gift it!

New Online!

Poetry:

“we always die first in the movies
when death leads to
black behind boards.”
From Raina J. León’s poet: rigor mortis, zombies, & dehumanization.

Fiction:

“I saw him everywhere it seemed after that, including one morning on my way to work. I turned a corner and there he was on one of his jogs, both torch and runner, the mirage in a miracle.” From Andree Greene’s Safety in Numbers

Microeditorials:

“Like the Black women before us, Toni tells them that sustainability has as much to do with sowing seeds in chemically-free soil as maintaining a healthy self-image in a society that sees Black girls as social problems.”

From Toni Powell-Young and Aisha S. Durham’s Tending to Our Daughter’s Gardens

Interviews:

“I wonder: Am I a “real Haitian” when my experience of Haiti was drastically different from that of 80% of the population?”
From Natalie Leger’s Behind a Sky the Color of Chaos, an Interview with MJ Fievre

“Tell her I would turn
this world color-blind
for her.”
From Amy Elizabeth Bishop’s Calling Collect from Prison/Father-Daughter Intermediary

“First it was dark and quiet, later it was bright and loud. First there were dead girls and living girls; later there were girls in between.”
From Ayse Papatya Bucak’s The History of Girls

“But just so you have a small idea, he married people who were no good for his life, ultimately, and all that reverted to his kids, but, well, what most hurts is the relationship between father and son…”
From Nelly Rosario’s Hemingway’s Not-so-strange Tribe as Told by Annet Sánchez

“But who shall produce the plays of the contemporary Black American female voice? I know we were very hot at one point…but let’s be clear its usually the APPEARANCE of hotness…”
From Angie Cruz’s Radha Blank Speaks Troof, Otherwise What’s the Fkn Point?

“We pack bags furiously, with flawless precision.
Essentials, everything else can be acquired.”
From Leticia Hernandez-Linares’s A Talent for Packing

“But the girls in my story were also strong. I wanted to tell the story of girls as all things.” From Ayse Papatya Bucak’s The History of Girls , Part II

“Words to live by:
Replace complaint with action rooted in the courage of your convictions.”
From Daniel Alexander Jones’s Jomama Jones Shedding Light

As many of you know Aster(ix) is a work of puro amor devoted to writers, artists, thinkers and activists committed to social change. It runs on crazy midnight-oil kind of energy and thrives on word-of-mouth. So thank you to all of you who tweet, Instagram, and subscribe to our newsletter, who like our FB page and cite us in your work. Thank you also to those who choose to support through donations and more.

Enjoy!